Patient monitoring systems include electronic monitoring devices designed to display physiological information about a patient. Electrocardiogram (ECG), electroencephalogram (EEG), plethysmographic signals, and signals related to blood pressure, temperature, and respiration represent typical physiological information contained in monitoring devices. Patient monitoring systems are typically also furnished with alarming functionality to alert clinicians of important physiological events that may impact a patient being monitored. Such systems maintain alarm configuration settings that are used to determine when an alarm event is triggered by the devices.
Electric fields can be developed in free space from many different sources. For Organs in the human body such as the heart and brain produce electric fields. Electrocardiogram (ECG) provide a measurement of electric fields produced by the heart. Current methods of measuring electric potentials associated with a human employ securing electrodes directly to the skin of a patient. Methods requiring direct contact with the skin of a patent have been observed to yield patient discomfort. Time for signal generation can be significant and includes setup time to secure electrodes to the skin of a patient.
Fast acquisition of heart rate readings can be especially important in a variety of applications including in the delivery of babies. Current clinical practice includes internationally accepted protocol for neonatal resuscitation. This protocol uses heart rate of a newly born neonate to decide whether breathing assistance is applied to the neonate and what types of breathing interventions are to be used. Current clinical practice involves a nurse holding the umbilical cord to count blood pulses or else using a stethoscope to hear the neonate's heart beats. Both of these methods are proven to be erroneous (published in literature). In addition, these methods are performed only at fixed intervals (i.e. at 30 seconds, at 60 seconds) rather than continuously. Finally, sharing the estimated heart beat with other caregivers in the labor & delivery room is challenging leading to miscommunication and possibility of erroneous decisions. Recent version 7 of the Neonatal Resuscitation Protocol recommends the use of ECG monitoring to improve accuracy. However, such a device requires adhesive electrodes applied to the neonate with cables connecting the neonate to the cardiac monitor. Electrodes are difficult to place on newborn skin due to fluids and removing or repositioning sensors can damage the fragile skin. Cables get in the way when nurses are cleaning the neonate and applying ventilation therapy.